


step one: get dog

by somethingtodowithowls



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Kara is clueless, SuperCorp, kara gets a dog, lena doesn't want to like the dog, she also likes kara, spoiler alert: she likes the dog
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 14:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16620704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/somethingtodowithowls/pseuds/somethingtodowithowls
Summary: “You said you found a puppy, Kara, this is a fully grown, and very large, dog.” Kara only smiled a toothy grin from behind the giant mop that was now clinging to her neck rather gracelessly and Lena’s heart skipped a beat. “You also said that Alex was going to keep it?”orlots of feelings ft. Krypto the dog





	step one: get dog

**Author's Note:**

> my hot neighbor asked me to keep an eye on her dog and none of this happened but i did pet him lots

Of all the things Lena had learned to expect when letting herself into Kara’s apartment, a blur of hair and paws was definitely not one of them.

 

“Holy f-” She let out, cut off by the enthusiasm irradiating from the dog that was now doing its best to tackle her to the ground.

 

“Hey!” Kara greeted as she hurried to the entrance and deftly pulled the hairy monster by its collar and away from Lena. “Sorry about him, he’s still very jumpy.”

 

Lena gaped for a moment. Kara was wearing a soft blue sweater, leggings, and comfy socks and she looked lovely as usual, so lovely that Lena almost forgot about the 70 pounds of dirty white hair Kara was easily restraining with her super strength. Almost.

 

“When did you get a dog?” Was all Lena could ask, trying not to sound weary or judgy.

 

“Remember I told you we found a dog at a warehouse the other day?” Kara said as she casually lifted the ball of fur as if it weighted absolutely nothing and held it to her chest like a baby. The dog seemed thrilled.

 

“You said you found a  _ puppy _ , Kara, this is a fully grown, and very large, dog,” Kara only smiled a toothy grin from behind the giant mop that was now clinging to her neck rather gracelessly and Lena’s heart skipped a beat, “You also said that Alex was going to keep it?”

 

“Oh yeah,” Kara responded before the dog in her arms suddenly decided to flop around so forcefully that Kara had to put it back down and turn back to Lena, “Alex’s landlord was very opposed to that idea so I’m keeping him, we’ve named him Krypto,”

 

Lena cracked a smile, already feeling herself giving in to this. “That’s very cute,” Kara nodded knowingly, and Lena just tilted slightly to look behind Kara, where the dog was busy ripping apart a couch cushion and rolling around on the stuffing. “I take it he’s not trained?”

 

“Minor details,” Kara shrugged off, “we’ll work on it. He’s an angel, you’ll see.”

 

* * *

 

It was safe to say that after two weeks of Krypto the dog being in their lives, Lena was sure he was most definitely  **not** an angel. It didn’t help that Kara’s apartment was small and she was rarely at home for longer than an hour at a time. Lena wouldn’t say that she didn’t like the dog, because she did find him… cute, in a chaotic kind of way, but having him around made her already scarce quality time with Kara, well, scarcer. And Lena knew it was unfair to blame the dog, but feelings weren’t rational and her unimaginably resilient crush on her best friend was making her jealous of a giant fluffy overly enthusiastic floor-mat. A floor-mat that she promised to feed while Kara attended a press conference after an entire day of restless crime-fighting.

 

“Hello, Mr. Krypto,” Lena greeted as she walked into the apartment, dropping her keys and purse on the table by the door. The dog lifted his head from the remains of his dog bed and eyed Lena curiously.

 

“Don’t look at me like that, I’m sorry I’m not Kara,” Lena continued, half-joking and half-worrying that her life was so ultimately pointless that she was having a conversation with a dog that wasn’t even hers.

 

The dog put his head back down on his paws and let out a huff then, and Lena had to roll her eyes at how offended she felt by it. She reached for the dog food that Kara kept under the sink and poured a healthy amount on the bowl by the counter. She looked back at the dog still laying on his destroyed dog bed, unmoving.

 

“Why aren’t you eating?” Lena asked and the dog only let out a very sad whine. “Are you sad?” Lena followed up. Nothing.

 

She walked over to the couch and sat down, carefully inspecting the mop of hair in front of her. “Krypto,” she called, and the dog lifted his head and looked at her obediently. Lena took a deep breath, knowing she was about to lose all the respect that she worked for weeks to obtain. “Would you like to cuddle?”

 

The dog perked up as if he understood Lena perfectly and Lena smiled. “Come on, come here,” she said, patting the couch delicately before she was tackled down against the cushion by a very happy looking muppet.

 

“You manipulative little shit,” Lena muttered as she gave in and patted all over the thick white fur. The dog reacted positively, wiggling around and licking Lena effusively.

 

“God, your mom was right,” she continued, giving into the fact that she was now that lady who spoke to dogs. “You do need a bath,”

 

Her very much normal conversation with the dog was interrupted by a phone call that Lena struggled to answer as her phone was all the way in her purse and she had a fluffy anker sprawled across her lap and chest. She managed to squeeze out of the couch and picked up.

 

“Jess.” She greeted.

 

“ _ Your 5 o’clock just called to confirm the meeting, _ ” her assistant prompted from the line and Lena reflexively checked her watch. 4:30pm. She was already late and the damn dog hadn’t eaten yet. She turned to Krypto and the manipulative fiend whined from the couch, looking at her like he’d been neglected for his entire life and only Lena could provide comfort. Lena being Lena, completely caved.

 

“I’ll need to reschedule,” She announced and bit her tongue before uttering some nonsense justification for what clearly was a moment of weakness. “Actually I’ll need you to clear the rest of my schedule today. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

 

“ _ No problem, Ms. Luthor, I’m on it. _ ” Jess replied before rambling about sending her an email with the schedule changes later and wishing her a good afternoon.

 

Lena dropped her phone back into the purse and stepped off her heels looking at the hesitant face of the dog on the couch.

 

“Just to be perfectly clear, I’m doing this for your mother,” Lena assured as she walked into Kara’s bedroom with the purpose of finding the comfy clothes she usually borrowed: flannel pj pants and Kara’s NCU sweater. As she changed she thought to herself, Lena Luthor, owner of not one but two giant global corporations, holder of more degrees than her age makes possible, child prodigy, and so in love with Kara Danvers that she was about to give her dog a bath when she wasn’t even asked to do it.

 

* * *

 

Lena didn’t hear the front door. If she had she would’ve scrambled to look slightly less wrecked than she did when Kara found her in her bedroom around 9pm. Turns out, washing and blow-drying an animal unruly enough to exhaust Supergirl, was a feat that required more energy than Lena could physically store in her entire body. 

 

The bath had been messy and chaotic, Lena had to run around Kara’s apartment chasing a soaking wet and very energetic mop at least twice before she realized she could just close the bathroom door. Washing the dirt out of Krypto’s hair had made her realize how tangled, messy and long it actually was, and summoning her best commanding voice, she managed to have him sit still for enough time to trim it.

 

The sun was already settling by the time she finished vacuuming the apartment and the dog, after assuring him several times that he didn’t have to be scared of the vacuum. Finally, Lena settled down on the floor, propped up by Kara’s bed and fished the hair-drier out of under the bed, patting her thighs until a much more presentable Krypto approached her and let himself be blow-dried with the little amount of energy Lena had left. That’s when Kara walked in.

 

“Oh my gosh,” Kara uttered, pure surprise on her face, “are you okay?”

 

Lena turned the blow-drier off and looked up in equal surprise, realizing that she had been almost drifting off, head hanging back on Kara’s mattress.

 

“Uh,” Lena started, clearly unprepared to be found in such position, but Kara’s smile was bright when she kneeled down in front of them and scratched Krypto between the ears.

 

“Did you-” Kara cut herself off with a chuckle, “did you give him a bath?”

 

Lena felt herself blush.

 

“Well, yeah,” She shrugged off, putting the hair drier aside and sitting straighter, “if he insists on laying on me he needs to at least be clean,”

 

“Did you hear that, baby?” Kara cooed as she scratched the dog more enthusiastically, riling him up, “we can cuddle with Lena now, yes! Lena gave you a bath because she loves you, buddy, have you told her you love her too? Because we do, don’t we?”

 

Lena cracked a smile at the antics. She even held it in place when the dog inevitably turned towards her and started trying to kiss her entire face. Kara was giggling and holding him back and Lena had never been happier.

 

“Wait, have you been here all afternoon?” Kara asked after she managed to pull the slobbering monster off of her and offered her a hand to help her up from the floor.

 

“I might have,” Lena teased. Her hand lingering on Kara’s for just a little bit longer than necessary.

 

“Have I told you you’re the best person in the universe?” Kara asked, only part of her attention directed at holding at bay the excited mess of a dog at their feet.

 

“I just knew you’ve been meaning to clean him and I figured I’d help you out,” Lena deflected while Kara grabbed her hand tighter for a second and pushed forward to plant a loud kiss on Lena’s cheek before turning towards the living room.

 

“Krypto, get the phone, we owe Lena dinner!”

 

Lena’s heart almost leaped out of her chest as she followed Kara and the four-legged fur collage out of the room.

 

After dinner, and with Krypto laying gingerly on top of both their laps, Lena had never felt more at home in her life.

 

* * *

 

“You like him, don’t you?” Kara teased. Lena immediately took her hand off the fur menace she’d been petting and looked at her friend indignantly. Mornings at Kara’s place really did make her softer somehow.

 

“I most certainly don’t,” Lena defended and Kara chuckled.

 

“You’ve been staying over much more often since I got him,” Kara pointed out with a winning smile, quickly turning around to flip their pancakes with her bare hand. “It’s okay, Lena, you can admit you love Krypto. He loves you too, you know? I swear you’re the only one he actually obeys for some reason,”

 

“Is that reason that I’m the only one who actually sets boundaries, maybe?” Lena responded, defensively enough to cover up that the real reason Lena had been staying over more often was Kara and only Kara.

 

“You’re such a dog-mom,” Kara replied with glee, “it’s perfect, you’re the strict one, I’m the fun one, perfect balance,”

 

“I’m not a dog-mom, he’s not even my dog,” Lena mumbled under her breath, knowing that Kara heard it perfectly. 

 

“You spend as much time with him as I do, he might as well be,” Kara argued as she walked towards the fridge and got some milk.

 

“Nonsense,” and it wasn’t even that Lena didn’t want the absurdity of being co-parent of a dog with Kara, because if it were up to her she’d co-parent anything with her, a plant, a lizard, a horse, a child, a dozen alien children, anything. But her stomach felt tight when Kara joked around like this with her, it made her realize how in trouble she was, how in love she was. And she had no clue for how much longer she could keep hiding what she felt.

 

“Whatever,” Kara shrugged off, dropping three pancakes on the plate in front of Lena and leaning over the counter to fill her mug with fresh coffee. “Say what you want, I love our family,” she asserted with a quick kiss to Lena’s cheek that left her rooted to her chair.

 

“C’mon baby,” Kara cooed to the dog currently trying to climb on Lena’s lap to get to her food, “come eat your breakfast quick because your moms have work to get to,” she said while shaking the bowl by their feet, successfully earning the dog’s attention and Lena’s pointed eye roll.

 

Kara smiled wider and Lena felt her heart once again flutter against her chest. This whole thing was ridiculous. She’d been managing her crush just fine until that sheep-looking canine snuggled its way into their relationship. She’d been managing just fine and now it felt like the truth was crawling its way up Lena’s throat with every second she spent with them.

 

* * *

 

Against all odds, Lena managed to survive the feeling of impending eruption of her romantic feelings for a few more weeks.

 

“So, how much do you think will take to bribe your landlord into allowing dogs?” was the first thing Lena said when she opened the door for Alex.

 

Alex grinned and offered her the bottle she was carrying.

 

“I heard about the shoes,” she responded as she made her way into the apartment. “Did he completely destroy them?”

 

“In 20 seconds flat,” Lena replied and Alex made a face. “Make sure you tell your landlord I’m willing to pay lots of money,”

 

“Again, I’m so sorry about the shoes,” Kara yelled from the bedroom and Lena fought a smile by  rolling her eyes.

 

“Again, not your fault Kara,” Lena reminded her and then turned to the couch where the huge ball of wool guilty of the crime was laying inconspicuously, “he’s the one that should be apologizing,”

 

Alex let out a huff of breath before turning to Lena with a serious expression.

 

“You’ve really been sucked into the madness, huh?”

 

As much as Lena didn’t want to accept it, she had. She really had.

 

* * *

 

The thing about being a part of Kara’s life was that whenever you thought something was the peak of odd things, she managed to outdo herself and prove you wrong.

 

Like that morning, when she woke up to Kara blowing out small ice sticks for Krypto to fetch mid-air, she was sure that would be the oddest thing she’d see that day. But clearly, she was proven wrong when she got a text around 1pm that contained only a picture of Krypto sitting in the L-Corp lobby couch precariously holding a bag of chinese food with his mouth.

 

“I take it you’re having a very boring day today, darling,” Lena greeted when she made it to the lobby a few minutes later and accepted a hug from Kara.

 

“Unbelievably,” she groaned, “there’s no crime. None. At all. Noting at CatCo either. I’m losing my mind.”

 

“I bet he’s thrilled you’ve been with him all day,” Lena commented as she peaked behind Kara and found the dog laying belly-up on the pristine leather couch, tongue hanging out as he breathed hard through his mouth.

 

“I was going to fly him up to your balcony to be funny but I didn’t know if you’d be in a meeting and Jess is ignoring my texts,”

 

Lena chuckled at the vision of Supergirl holding a ball of white fur and waving at a conference room of 20 rich snobby old men in suits as she went by.

 

“Do you have half an hour for lunch?” Kara asked almost shyly as she wiggled the bag she was holding in one hand. “I was thinking we could go to the park and maybe find a nice bench,”

 

Lena swallowed down the knot in her throat at the suggestion of such a soft, romantic outing but then shook herself out of it.

 

“I’d love that,” she replied simply.

 

“O-kay,” Kara smiled, then turned to the couch. “C’mon baby,” she tried but the dog refused to move. “Hey, come on, we’re going to the park!”

 

Nothing. Kara rolled her eyes and eyed Lena, who stood there unmoving. After trying and failing again, Kara turned to Lena.

 

“Please do your thing,” she pleaded. Lena smiled.

 

“Krypto,” she announced, making the dog’s ears perk up immediately. “Listen to your mother,” she ordered, and the dog wasted no time to scramble to his feet and join them by the door. Lena smiled again, smug this time.

 

“This is so unfair,” Kara whined as she opened the front doors and allowed Lena to march through, closely followed by a suddenly obedient Krypto. “I’ve tried everything, he won’t listen to me,”

 

“Have you tried the Supergirl voice?” Lena suggested, covering the blush on her cheeks with a pair of large sunglasses she fetched from her purse. “Maybe he’ll find it as commanding as I do,”

 

They stopped at the red light in front of the building and Krypto sat by Lena’s feet, obediently waiting for permission to cross the street. Lena turned to Kara only to find her slightly stunned. She couldn’t help a pleased smile when Kara blurted a strangled “yeah, I’ll try that,” and then launched herself across the street the second the light turned green.

 

* * *

 

Lunches in the park became regular occurrences under the flimsy excuse of Krypto needing to run around and get fresh air. Lena should have known it wouldn’t be long until this happened. And by this, she meant them, sitting on a picnic blanket, the assortment of tupperware containers filled with appetizers and the chilly breeze surrounding them while the sun set in front of them at the park.

 

“Did you really make 50 mini-sandwiches? I thought you had work all day,” Lena asked a bit incredulous as she opened the last container.

 

“I pulled a catering service van out of a fire a few days ago and the owner was super nice,” Kara explained from below a sprawled out tangle of white yarn as she pet and scratched all over him. “Do you think he’s getting bigger?”

 

Lena looked at the dog and noticed how much longer he looked when he lay on Kara’s whole body like that. “Oh Lord, just what we need, for him to outgrow the bathtub.”

 

Kara chuckled and lightly rolled Krypto off of her and sat up. The dog seemed offended for a second before a squirrel caught his attention and sent him running down the hill they were at and towards a creek.

 

“So,” Kara started, the tone of her voice getting suddenly shy and making Lena look up from her plate full of finger-sandwiches almost immediately. “I saw that horrible article they published about you yesterday,”

 

Lena felt her throat close up in response to the memory but quickly regained her composure. “Of course you did,” Lena smiled softly, “ _ ‘there’s no need of a special occasion for a diner picnic, Lena’ _ ” she imitated Kara teasingly and to her delight, Kara grinned back at her.

 

“Sue me for wanting to make my best friend feel better,” Kara defended weakly.

 

“Thanks, darling, but these things happen to me way too often to be affected by them,” Lena deflected, but her insides fluttered at the deep concern in Kara’s face.

 

“So you’re not sad?” Kara corroborated, Lena only shook her head and ate another bite of her sandwich. “Not angry?” Another head shake, “not even a little?”

 

“Kara,” Lena warned.

 

“Sorry! It’s just you’ve been known to repress your feelings before and I want to help,” Kara said softly and Lena’s heart did a funny little flip that Kara politely ignored. She smiled.

 

“I promise,” Lena replied even softer. “My past relationship with Veronica Sinclair was not a secret, Kara, so this so-called exposé is ridiculous and old news. I’ve dealt with people knowing about it before, it won’t be any different now,”

 

Kara’s face was pinched in a very cute pout which made Lena chuckle and reach over the blanket to poke Kara’s folded leg with her socked foot. “I could fling whoever is responsible for it straight to the sun, you know?”

 

Lena raised an eyebrow and Kara just rolled her eyes.

 

“I won’t,” she assured, “but I  _ could _ , if they made you sad,” Kara defended after a pause and Lena’s heart threatened with failure for the 5th time that evening. Lucky for her, a distraction in the form of a filthy, hairy, baby polar bear ran up to them and deposited approximately 20 muddy sticks at Kara’s feet before leaping towards Lena for head scratches.

 

“Hello there Mr,” Lena greeted as she gave in and started scratching along the thick fur, “you won’t let your mama fling people to space, will you?” she cooed, using the same annoying voice Kara used when she babied him. 

 

She didn’t need to look up to know Kara was smiling at her, and that was all she needed.

 

* * *

 

Autumn turned into winter and the cold brought with it a ridiculous assortment of dog-beanies. They all had ears. Bunny ears, cat ears, elf ears, Yoda ears, but no dog ears. Since objecting was of no use, and Krypto seemed as enthusiastic about the daily dress-up as Kara, Lena just let it happen.

 

“ _ Ms. Luthor _ ,” came the voice of her assistant through the intercom. “ _ Ms. Danvers and her cute baby elephant are here for you _ ,”

 

Lena rolled her eyes to offset the wave of affection that washed over her. “Send them in, Jess, thank you.” Another thing that she had just ‘let happen’? Dogs were allowed at her office now.

 

“Go show off your new ears,” Kara cooed as they walked in, Krypto rushing towards Lena’s desk and hopping on his front legs excitedly.

 

“Bold choice,” Lena regarded as she petted Krypto through the knitted hat and scratched under his chin.

 

“They’ve been a success,” Kara commented, setting their food down at the coffee table and turning to kiss Lena hello when she approached. “I brought italian today, felt like consuming my weight in bread,”

 

“Unsurprising,” Lena conceded, “I saw you on the news holding up a bridge this morning,”

 

“It w’s h’vy,” Kara mumbled through a mouthful of bread as Lena joined her on the couch, Krypto already getting comfy on her office rug.

 

“I bet,” Lena smiled and reached for the carbonara container.

 

“You mentioned a trip on the phone earlier?” Kara managed to blurt out in between bites of food and bread.

 

“Oh yeah, I’m headed to Japan for some L-Corp business. The flight leaves early in the morning so I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend game-night tonight,” she explained.

 

“Oh,” Kara’s face dropped and Lena suddenly felt as evil as the headlines made her look, “that’s okay. How long will you be gone?”

 

“A little over a week, 10 days,”

 

“Japan, huh?” Kara tried, but Lena couldn’t unsee the pout on her friend’s face. “Is it at least fun L-Corp research business? Or is it all yuck board meetings and budget stuff?”

 

“Bit of both,” Lena answered honestly, still trying to decipher the complicated expression clouding Kara’s face at the moment. “Why do you look like I just asked you to plan my funeral? It’s 10 days, Kara, I’ll be back before you notice,”

 

“Unlikely,” Kara pouted dramatically but this time it looked less gloomy, “but I guess we’ll survive,”

 

Lena chuckled under her breath at the dramatic sigh and, once again, reached into her heart and pushed down all the stray feelings that were wandering around her ribcage.

 

10 days in Japan will be good. Distance fixes more things than people give it credit for.

 

* * *

 

Distance, as it turns out, is a dick.

 

Not only did Lena find herself feeling like a physical hole had been carved out of her heart every time she went to bed alone at night, but she realized she had spent 99% of her nights at Kara’s apartment for the past few months without realizing and without Kara even mentioning it.

 

Not only did she feel like she was playing herself by getting more and more attached to her best friend who didn’t know about her very non-friendly feelings for her, but she also realized that it was flat-out weird that Kara allowed, and even encouraged, the co-dependency that she was displaying lately.

 

Distance was also not easy when she woke up daily to 20+ selfies of Kara and Krypto and long, rambly, voice notes of Kara recounting her day and asking about hers.

 

9 days went by with Lena barely spending a minute without Kara on her mind and if she was being honest, she was scared. Terrified, even. Because she’d never imagined she’d fall like this. It was very inconvenient.

 

After the third consecutive buzz of her phone on the bedside table, Lena gave in and reached for it. Texts from Kara, as she had imagined. First, a photo of Krypto napping over what looked like Kara’s NCU sweatshirt (the one Lena borrowed more often than not). Next,  _ “we miss you” _ followed by 20 emojis. And finally,  _ “I miss you.” _

 

Lena texted back, unable to restrain herself.

**23:13**

_ He better not destroy that sweater. It’s my favorite _

 

**Kara Danvers** **23:13**

_ He wouldn’t, he won’t even let me near it _

_ Hey shouldn’t you be sleeping? _

 

**23:14**

_ I’m restless _

 

**Kara Danvers**

**_Incoming videocall_ **

 

“Are you okay?” was the first thing out of Kara’s mouth as soon as she picked up. Lena smiled in the darkness of the room, reached for the bedside lamp and sat up on the bed.

 

“I’m fine, darling, I’m just thinking a lot,” she tried to explain.

 

“How was that meeting you had before?” Kara asked, stifling a yawn that reminded Lena that it must be very early in National City.

 

“It was actually very good, I secured an interesting partnership that I’ll tell you all about once I’m back tomorrow,”

 

Kara nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes and suddenly Lena felt every sort of fear bubble up to the surface of her brain.

 

“Are  _ you  _ okay?” Lena returned the question and her heart trembled when Kara let out a long sigh before responding.

 

“I just miss you so much,” she said simply, that sad smile still covering her features.

 

“I’ll be back soon, though,” Lena tried.

 

“I know,” Kara responded, as if she was convincing herself as well. “I just- Is this normal? Because it doesn’t feel normal.”

 

Lena frowned at that. “What do you mean?”

 

“It’s- uh, okay, it’s like I can’t stop thinking about you,” Kara started, and Lena felt her hands sweat and her heart stop at the words. “I think about how you are, and what you’re doing, and I’m just very aware of the fact that you’re far away and I wish you weren’t-”

 

“Kara…” Lena interrupted. She needed a pause because Kara was saying things that Lena should be happy to hear but her face made it clear to Lena that she had no idea of the implications. That what she was saying was meant in a loving but very much platonic way.

 

“Have you ever felt this way?” Kara piped up and Lena’s heart felt heavy.

 

“I- yeah, I have.”

 

“And what have you-”

 

The sirens on the background were loud enough to get Lena’s heart pumping again after the journey it endured with the current conversation. Kara turned to the window and back to Lena, a split second of doubt clouding her face before she spoke again.

 

“I’m sorry,” Kara whispered, “duty calls.”

 

“It’s okay, go, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Lena replied with more relief than she let on.

 

“I- We’ll talk about this, okay? I’m- I gotta go,” Kara hesitated again, and the sirens became somehow louder, “have a safe flight, I’ll see you soon.”

 

When the line cut off, Lena let herself cry. She cried more tears than she had cried in the past 10 years. She sobbed and hugged her pillow and cried herself dry. And then she got up, closed her suitcases and boarded what felt like the longest flight of her life.

 

* * *

 

Lena didn’t text Kara when she landed. She knew she should have but her flight was almost an hour early and she figured she could afford that extra time to regain her composure. And then when she got home she got into the shower and left her phone on silent in her purse to avoid temptation.

 

She was trying not to think about Kara. She was trying to steer her mind away from what Kara might be thinking about, regarding their last conversation at least. Because it sounded like she might feel things, things not unlike what Lena was feeling. Things that may cause her to freak out once she realizes that she’s been inadvertently leading Lena on. Or once she realizes the depth of Lena’s own feelings for her.

 

After what felt like hours under the hot stream of water, Lena decided that maybe sleeping was the best course of action. She knew she’d eventually have to face Kara and that maybe things would get awkward, but it didn’t need to be right now. She slipped on an oversized sweater and panties, towel dried her hair and dove into her bed, ignoring the familiar ache of missing Kara.

 

* * *

 

The doorbell woke her up rather hastily in the middle of the night. Lena could feel how her hair had frizzed up from air drying but ignored it just to get that infernal doorbell to stop ringing.

 

On the other side of the door, Kara. Of course.

 

“Oh hey,” Lena tried for surprised. “Did I forget to text you? I was so tired,”

 

“You’re okay,” Kara exhaled and pushed forward to wrap Lena in a tight hug that made her let go of the front door and reciprocate. The scent of Kara’s perfume attacked her senses and Lena found herself unable to do anything other than bury her face in Kara’s neck and hold tight. The hug lasted for longer than anyone could excuse as normal but Lena ignored the nagging voice in her head for just that long. That until Kara broke away and rushed to close the front door behind her before turning back to her.

 

“I’m sorry, I got worried,” Kara explained, and only then did Lena notice she was carrying a flat, square box in her hand.

 

“I’m fine,” Lena provided, suddenly feeling very exposed under Kara’s intent gaze. The fact that she was wearing only a sweater over mostly nothing didn’t help at all, so Lena tried to deflect. “What’s with the chocolates?” She asked pointing at the box Kara was carrying.

 

“Oh, yeah, they’re for you,” Kara said, offering the box to Lena with a tentative smile. “These are the ones we had that time at the movies, I remember you liking them?”

 

Lena nodded and took the box, now her turn to stare at Kara and examine what was it about her that seemed off today. “Why?” She asked simply after a few seconds.

 

“I’m putting my cards on the table,” Kara announced decisively and Lena frowned as she turned the box in her hands.

 

“I’m very jetlagged, Kara,” Lena excused herself and placed the box down on a nearby table before rubbing her temples with her hands. “Am I missing something?”

 

Kara took a deep breath and the way she shakily exhaled made Lena feel a shift in the air around them immediately.

 

“Alex said something that I couldn’t get out of my head. She said that the cure for missing someone was closing your eyes and thinking about what I’d do if they were here with me,” she explained. And as she spoke, her voice got firmer and Lena couldn’t take her eyes off her face. “And I’ve just spent an entire week trying to convince myself that when I pictured you, my first thought wasn’t kissing you.”

 

_ Oh. _

 

Lena felt her jaw open, she felt how her body recognized that words had to be said but her throat closed up. Had Kara just said what she thought she said? Had she said- 

 

“But it was,”  _ okay _ .

 

“It was?” Lena croaked in a choked whisper.

 

“I can’t stop thinking about it,” Kara continued, she even took a step closer to where Lena was standing and reached forward with her hand, brushing her fingers over the sleeve of Lena’s sweater. “I’ve been going crazy here, thinking about the past few months and how every time I saw you my stomach would feel weird, and how it took extreme effort to stop staring at you while we watched movies, and how I kept hoping you’d stay longer at my apartment, and how I fell for you and I didn’t even realize it until you were gone and I felt worse than that time they shot me with a kryptonite bullet.”

 

Lena, for the first time in however long she’s been working in business, felt her brain fail her to provide words. There was nothing inside her head besides a prolonged high pitched scream. This had to be a hallucination.

 

“I’m sorry,” Kara breathed out, clearly amazed at herself for spewing such a monologue, “I’m dumping all of this on you, I’ll let you rest, and I’ll stop rambling, but feel free to completely ignore this, I’m just gonna-”

 

“I don’t want to ignore it,” Lena finally managed. Her arm also reacting when Kara turned to leave and clutching the sleeve of her jacket to hold her back.

 

“You don’t?” Kara asked slowly. Her face giving nothing away for the first time since Lena knew her and it was frustrating because Lena hated not being able to read her. Maybe it was time to start being more directly communicative.

 

“I don’t spend every night at your place because I love your dog, Kara, I don’t-”

 

“You don’t love him???” Kara interrupted and Lena felt the urge to snap her back to the important part of the conversation, the one where Lena was about to pour her heart out for her.

 

“I mean- of course I do, but I didn’t originally,” she explained with a groan. Kara looked confused. “My point is- ugh,” Lena cut herself off. She used the hand still clutching Kara’s sleeve to pull herself towards her and after the briefest of pauses, she finally plucked up the courage to push herself up just enough to capture Kara’s lips with hers.

 

The response was immediate. 

 

Kara’s lips pressed back into hers and her hands flew to circle Lena’s waist over the thick sweater. Lena felt like a dam had been broken. She slowly parted her lips as she melted deeper into Kara’s embrace and her hands automatically made their way to Kara’s cheeks and stroked slowly.

 

Lena felt Kara pull away just enough to exhale deeply and dive back in with purpose and the action had an earth-shattering effect on Lena’s current state of mind. She had to be going insane. It was the only possible explanation for Kara pulling her closer by the lower back, pressing their bodies together and almost lifting Lena off the ground. But it felt real. It felt so real when Kara dared to part her lips and coax Lena’s open as well, and when she slowly teased her tongue into the kiss as Lena gave her full permission to wreck her even further.

 

It felt even more real when they slowed down, and Lena felt Kara’s deep breaths against her lips that still were touching hers. She opened her eyes to find Kara’s still closed behind the glasses and she pushed their foreheads together in an effort to bring Kara back to her. She blinked her eyes open and Lena almost tumbled forward once again but decided against it, instead she slid her fingers into Kara’s hair slowly.

 

“Lena,” Kara whispered very low, without pulling away from their embrace in the slightest. “I think I’m gay,”

 

Lena somehow managed to avoid laughing. “I always thought Supergirl gave off a bit of a vibe,”

 

It was Kara’s responding chuckle that made Lena smile wide and lean forward for another kiss, a short one, impeded by their inability to stop smiling.

 

“You brought chocolates,” Lena whispered, not even caring that she sounded like a lovesick teenage girl whose dream date had just shown up at her doorstep.

 

“I was going to bring Krypto but I didn’t want you to feel pressured by his adorable new reindeer ears,” Kara explained thoughtfully and her hands idly trailed up and down Lena’s back as she spoke. To an outside observer, they would look like they were glued together, unable to break apart even if they tried.

 

“I was in love with you before you got a dog, Kara,” Lena had to point out, since maybe Kara hadn’t picked up on that yet.

 

“You were?” 

 

Yeah, she hadn’t.

 

Lena only nodded before she closed the distance between them once again.

 

* * *

 

“ _ Close your eyes and think of what you’d do if you were with her _ ?” Lena questioned simply. Alex gave her a lopsided smile.

 

“I could see the gears already turning, she just needed a small push,” Alex justified. “You should be thanking me,”

 

“I am,” Lena replied, returning the smile, “thank you.”

 

“Couldn’t wish for a better sister-in-law,” Alex responded and they both looked down at their drinks for a moment, avoiding the overwhelming feelings that surrounded them. “Are you going to tell everyone?”

 

“I actually don’t know,” Lena frowned, “we didn’t discuss how we’d play it,”

 

In that moment, the front door opened and Kara walked in, Krypto following close behind.

 

“Are you guys already drinking?” Kara chuckled and they both nodded nonchalantly. “Put them down, you can drink when we’re done with the pictures,”

 

Alex sighed, “I still think it’s way too early for Christmas card pictures.”

 

“No it’s not,” Kara argued. “Lena agrees with me,”

 

“Of course she does,” Alex whispered with a scoff, put her glass down on the counter and poked Lena’s arm on her way to the living room. “Let’s get it over with.”

 

* * *

 

When her phone buzzed for the second time, Lena fished it from her purse and tapped open the messages while she waited for the elevator.

 

Alex had sent her a picture. She’d seen this picture before: it was Kara and herself with their pointy elf hats, facing each other while Krypto, wearing his santa hat of course, precariously held up a branch of plastic mistletoe above their heads. She loved that picture. After tapping it open she realized that Alex was holding the picture, printed on a Christmas card, that Kara must have sent copies of to her friends and family. Surprisingly, the feeling that spread in her chest was not panic, it was quite the opposite, warm and fuzzy and calm just like Kara.

 

The next message read:  _ “I guess you’re telling people.” _

 

Lena smiled to herself and typed back:  _ “I guess we are.” _

**Author's Note:**

> okay now i'm done


End file.
